UPDATE II: Google Philippines has joined the efforts by helping large TV networks contextualize the disaster areas. The link to the team and the maps can be found here. If there are others missing, please contribute to this page.

UPDATE: You can proceed to Philippine Aid for donations and more information about the Ondoy aftermath. So far, the site has raised USD $6,000.00 in donations from the International community. Thank you very much!

Hi, this is Jayvee Fernandez, chief editor of Splashpress Media. As you may have witnessed in mainstream media, the blogs, and Twitter (we are trending), the Philippines (where I’m from) has been hit by the worst flood in recent history because of typhoon ‘Ketsana’ / ‘Ondoy.’ The media has labeled this an epic flood since 1967. One month’s worth of rainfall in the span of 6 hours. It is so epic, it has its own Tumblr account.

As I write this entry from a safe refuge, I cannot say the same for many other citizens and blogger friends who have had their material possessions, including cars, washed away. A detailed account can be read here, courtesy of Manolo Quezon.

The local blogging community has been adamant and vigilant disseminating information about relief centers, hotline numbers, donations and other such efforts through Facebook, Twitter, and our other local social networks (we’re glad that most still have Internet, despite cellular networks conking out). it is during times like these when we realize how powerful social media can be in the absence of conventional networks.